BE PATIENT (oh so very patient!)
It takes a long time to learn to surf … and even longer to master it. Surfing is flat out hard and one should not expect to be ripping waves on their first day out. If you want a basic feeling about learning to surf, it is basically an exercise [...]
If you pay attention to the surfers at the beach preparing to paddle out into the line up, you may notice most devotees to the sport are partial to stretching. As you watch them contorting into poses that gear them up for hours of surfing fun, some familiar poses may begin to appear – downward-facing [...]
As surfers, we see life from a very unique and enviable place – the ocean waves. This place we call home, where the waves break into wonderful surf, allows most surfers to look at our regular lives from a distance. On a regular basis, we leave our scholastic, personal, and professional lives on an invisible [...]
One of the most common things you’ll hear a surfer say when asked about how much time they spend in the water is “Of course I surf every day that I can, it keeps you from going nuts.” True, There is an entirely spiritual and zen side to the sport of surfing that gives us [...]
Many surf schools are genuine … but it’s important to remember that you can’t really teach someone to surf in a couple of hours. So if you are planning to surf for the rest of your life, do it right from the beginning. You need surf schools that are honest with their clients … honest [...]
Surfing is easy IF you can only get to the point of sitting out in the line up, and then catching a wave to drop into. Of all the things that lead up to the physical moment of surfing on a wave, paddling is the one that will make the most difference in improving your [...]
If you’re a surfer, you’ll probably agree that the sport is hard on the body. You’re playing on an unstable surface with uncertain elements. Most spots in Indonesia aren’t for the slight of bicep or faint of heart; you’re often battling sharp reefs or 5 knots current (at Nusa Dua) to make it out. How, [...]
In surfing, you’re either a right foot or a left foot – meaning the foot you lead with and the one you attach the leash to. The rear foot you use for balance. If you lead with your right foot, you’re a goofy foot. I used to be a left foot (regular stance), but then [...]
We all saw that Friends episode (c’mon, you watch it, too!) when Monica gets stung by a jellyfish, and Joey remembers that peeing on a jellyfish sting takes the pain away. BUT don’t believe everything you see on TV!
Most jellyfish stings cause only pain and numbness, while the Australian box jellyfish is the most venomous and deadly [...]
Nobody really mentions this in surfing etiquette lists, but if you mess up and accidentally drop in or mess up someone’s wave, a quick apology is appreciated, and goes a long way to reducing tension in crowded lineups. You don’t have to grovel at their feet (well, unless you did something horrible). Honestly, if you [...]
I have a more than healthy respect for salt water, currents, rips, tides, storms, waves, gutters, schools of fish (flocks of birds), and scary conditions. I learned my limits and I learned that you are never quite in control. I learned that there are risks.
Surfing is such an amazing concept. You’re taking on Nature with a little stick and saying, ‘I’m gonna ride you!’ And a lot of times Nature says, ‘No you’re not!’ and crashes you to the bottom. – Jolene Blalock
Surfing is a big part of our daily lives, and suring those times when we do get a bit far away from the things that truly matter … and surfing often calls us back … we need to pause for a bit and re-evaluate the things that really should hold our focus.
In the spirit of [...]
Traveling reveals many things about yourself. As you are removed from your usual creature comforts and worldly delights, and exposed to what may seem like unusual and exotic things, layer upon layers of “you” are revealed in ways that would have taken tens of years to begin to appear in your usual home base or [...]
This is the first time someone asked me that question directly: Are you a surfer? I hesitated for a second to think about that deep question … and decided I was indeed a surfer, so I answered yes.
But I still had to qualify my answer by saying it has only been a month of surfing [...]
